India, Jan. 6 -- The BJP on Monday attacked the Congress on 1,000 years of Somnath temple's first destruction by Mahmud of Ghazni, saying this day is important to "remember and understand" how Jawaharlal Nehru and Leftist historians distorted history by portraying the Muslim invader as a "mere plunderer" and that he was not a "religious fanatic".

BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said that priests of the temple and the king of that time had pleaded Mahmud of Ghazni to spare the 'Shivling' in lieu of lakhs of gold coins but he rejected the offer and broke it, saying he wanted to be known as a "murtibhanjak (iconoclast)" instead of a "despicable person" who engaged in trade with "idol worshippers".

"A historian, who had accompan...